Shai Hope assumes responsibility for India loss, saying he'll ‘take the blame’

The opener has come under heavy criticism following his 33-ball 32 

West Indies captain Shai Hope admits his innings against India in Sunday’s Super Eight encounter at the ICC T20 World Cup might have been the difference between the two teams in his side’s 5-wicket loss. 

When asked if a more aggressive approach on his part could have resulted in the Caribbean side adding 15-20 runs to their first innings total of 195 for 4, the Barbadian replied, “Yes, that's my answer, yes.”

Hope hit three boundaries and a maximum before he was bowled by Varun Chakravarthy on 32 with the 33rd delivery that ended his innings. His wicket was the first to fall and left the West Indies 68 for 1 in the 9th over.

“It's one of those things; sometimes you just don't get the ball away,” Hope said. “As much as you’d love to come and hit every single ball for six, it doesn't happen.” 

His strike rate (96.96) was the lowest of the West Indies innings. The next lowest was Sherfane Rutherford, who scored his 14 in 9 balls (155.55). Hope attributed his steady knock to several factors. 

“I hit a few fielders, so it didn't help,” he began. “And then I thought they bowled pretty well, to be fair. Obviously, I wanted to bat a little bit deep into the innings and face most of the spin threat in the middle. But I just didn't get going.”

Opening partner Roston Chase scored his 40 in 25 deliveries, helping the West Indies to 45 without loss after six overs. Hope insists a modest powerplay with wickets in hand seemed an acceptable trade-off in the moment.

“Yes, we'd want to [score] 65-70 in the power play, but we had no wickets down,” he explained. “So we actually had a platform set. We were 45 without loss in the powerplay. With the batting depth that we have. I don't see it as a big issue.”

India wrapped up the victory at 199 for 5, with four deliveries to spare, on the back of opener Sanju Samson’s unbeaten 97 (50). Hope went on to clarify that he was in no way idealizing Windies’ powerplay effort. 

The 32-year-old said, “I'm going to be crying [out] for a lot more. Those are the standards that we set as a team. But as I said, I don't think I was batting badly. It's just that I was hitting the fielders and then trying to play the situation a bit more. But yes, I'll take the blame if that's what you want me to say."